Arrest made in Chicago attack that cost Schaumburg girl an eye

High school senior was hit in face with a broken bottle on Far South Side

October 20, 2009|By William Lee, Tribune reporter

Schaumburg High School senior Andrea Sanders had dreams to be either a nurse or perhaps an attorney. Those dreams may be affected after doctors were unable to save her eye following an attack Sunday in the city's Roseland community.

But on Monday night, Sanders' mother, Dorothy Ford, said she was greeted with welcome news that Chicago police had arrested someone in the attack in the 100 block of West 115th Street and were possibly seeking attempted murder charges.

Witnesses said the 9 a.m. melee had 20 to 25 people involved. Afterward, three adults and a teenage boy were charged with reckless conduct. Police offered no motive for the incident.

But the mother said she agonized about telling her daughter that she had lost her eye in the attack that Ford says was a case of mistaken identity.

"I've got so much going through my mind right now, it's just hard to talk about right now," Ford said late Monday.

Sanders, 17, stays with her maternal grandmother in Schaumburg. On Sunday, Sanders was joined by two cousins to visit family members who lived on Chicago's Far South Side. The three were pulling over so a male cousin could go to a convenience store, when they noticed they were being flagged down by several people, Ford said.

As the group of people approached the car, the cousins noticed the people had bricks, sticks and other weapons, Ford said. As one of the cousins tried to tell them that they had the wrong people, they were quickly attacked by members of the group, Ford said.

"They were trying to tell the people that they had the wrong people ... but they weren't trying to listen," Ford said.

As relatives fought off their attackers, Sanders saw one of her attackers break a bottle and throw it into her face.